The wife of a government employee allegedly ended her life at their house in KPHB Colony following reported harassment for dowry. The police has booked a case against D. Vijaya Krishna Rao, a records assistant in the school education department at the office of the deputy inspector of schools in Punjagutta and his brother D. Naga Sathya Prasad. Both have been taken into custody.

According to police, the victim M. Dhanalaxmi, 25, a native of Tirumalapalem in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, married Krishna Rao on April 4 last year. Her family alleged that he began harassing her for dowry just a month after the marriage. Her family had given Rs 10 lakh and 40 tolas of gold besides an acre of land and household appliances during the wedding, police said. He used to beat her after returning home drunk.

Unable to bear this, Dhanalaxmi went to her parents’ house and stayed there for three months. In January, Krishna Rao went to his in-laws' house and brought her back after promising to take care of her properly.

He allegedly did not change his attitude and harassed Dhanalaxmi along with his brother Sathya Prasad, the police said, quoting the complaint lodged by her father. On Saturday evening, Dhanalaxmi sent a text to her father stating that she was committing suicide and ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling using a cloth. Based on the complaint, a case has been registered under dowry death and the accused were taken into custody.